Grid computing is a form of distributed system wherein computing resources are shared across networks. Grid computing enables the selection, aggregation, and sharing of information resources resident in multiple administrative domains and across geographic areas. These information resources are shared, for example, based upon their availability, capability, and cost, as well as a user's quality of service (QoS) requirements. Grid computing can mean reduced cost of ownership, aggregated and improved efficiency of computing, data, and storage resources, and enablement of the creation of virtual organizations for applications and data sharing.
Grid-enabled software applications can be deployed (e.g., installed, customized) to grid compute nodes within a grid network. After usage, the deployed grid-enabled software applications are removed. However, there is always a chance that some parts of the grid-enabled software applications remain on the grid compute nodes after usage. For example, in some cases there is no clean deployed grid-enabled application removal without restarting the grid compute node after usage. Another example is that application developers sometimes forget to remove all parts of the grid-enabled application after usage. With the complete removal of grid-enabled applications this results in grid compute nodes that become slow performers and more unusable over time.